AMAZON RIVER DOLPHIN
The Amazon River dolphin has a few special features. It has a VERY long snout. It is also a unique color. It is gray when it's born, but it may become pinker as it grows older. Did you know that the male dolphins are often pinker than the females? With chubby cheeks and round bodies, these dolphins are not as cuddly as they seem. They use their powerful jaws to eat all kinds of creatures, including fish, crabs, turtles, and even piranhas!
This dolphin is considered a sacred creature by many Indigenous people in the Amazon.
BLACK CAIMAN
The black caiman is closely related to alligators. It can grow up to 16 feet long and uses its long tail to move fast in the water. The black caiman has over 70 teeth and a long jaw. These features make it easy for it to catch fish like piranhas and catfish. Sometimes black caimans also eat larger animals such as capybaras, snakes, and deer! They were listed as endangered in the 1980s and 1990s. Now they have a healthier population but are at risk of becoming endangered again.
BALD UAKARI
Bald uakaris look different from other monkeys because they have shaggy hair. They also have very short tails. Even though their tails are short, bald uakaris are great tree climbers. What makes them really unique is their faces. While they have hair everywhere else on their body, their faces are bald.
Scientists believe that bald uakaris with red faces are healthier. If their faces grow pale, it can be a sign that they are suffering from a disease called malaria! You can find bald uakaris in forests, often near rivers. They love to eat fruit, nuts, and insects.
When people think of rodents, they usually think of small animals like mice or rats. But the capybara can weigh up to 150 pounds, making it the biggest rodent in the world! They are herbivores, which means they only eat plants. The capybara also has a special superpower: it is semi-aquatic. This means it can swim and dive, all thanks to its partly webbed feet! Because of where its eyes, ears, and nostrils are on its head, it can watch out for predators while swimming.
Have you read our comic, The Adventures of Herbert and Wells? If so, you might have noticed that Wells is a capybara!
BLUE-AND-YELLOW MACAW
Did you know that macaws are the biggest flying parrots on the planet? Like other macaws, blue-and-yellow macaws are very colorful and have long tails. They also have very large and strong beaks. The beautiful parrots like to eat fruit and make their home in the palm trees that grow in the Amazon Basin. There is only a very small population of macaws left in the wild.
ARAPAIMA GIGAS
The Arapaima gigas (also called arapaima, pirarucu, or paiche) is a freshwater fish that lives in the rivers and oxbow lakes of the Amazon. It is one of the largest fish in the world. The arapaima can grow to be 10 feet long and over 400 pounds! It also has a bony tongue that it uses to eat other fish. Unlike other fish that use gills to breathe underwater, the arapaima can actually breathe air. This means it needs to come to the surface to take a big gulp of oxygen every 15 minutes.
The Arapaima gigas has been around for millions of years and has changed very little. It is like a living fossil. You can tell it's old just by looking at it!
GIANT RIVER OTTER
The giant river otter can grow up to six feet long and weigh up to 70 pounds. It loves to catch crustaceans, snakes, and fish. These cuddly-looking creatures enjoy spending time in groups, with clusters of parents and their children living and swimming together. The otters’ strong tails help them swim, and their waterproof fur keeps them warm and comfortable in the dens that they dig in the riverbanks.